New York affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation
March 9, 2009
Welcome to Environmental Advocates of New York’s online newsletter from the State Capital, your source for environmental news. We update you every other week with tidbits and observations carefully gleaned from the halls of the Capitol.
GOING, GOING, GONE. NEW YORK'S ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST FUND
According to our review of documents obtained through Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, New York’s Environmental Protection Fund is going broke. Current funding requests will zero out the Fund before the end of the State Fiscal Year on March 31st. Now Governor Paterson and Budget Director Laura Anglin must decide if they will ”sweep” additional monies from the Fund by the end of March. Environmental Advocates of New York has sent a letter to the Governor and Budget Director asking them to keep the broom in the closet.
As things stand, the state has written checks that New York’s air, water and land cannot cash. Our review of state agency documents shows that approved—and those pending approval—contract extensions, new contracts, or contract modifications submitted by state agencies to the Division of the Budget total nearly $40 million for the current state fiscal year. The combination of recent authorization to sweep $50 million from the Environmental Protection Fund and anticipated disbursements will leave it insolvent.
You do the math:
Fund Actual Closing Balance as of January 2009
$24,358,000
Estimated Additional Deposits to the Fund in February & March $48,000,000
Total Projects -$39,300,996
Latest Sweep -$50,000,000
Estimated Closing Balance for State Fiscal
Year 2009-10
-$16,942,996
Delayed state payments or failure to honor New York
State’s commitments will force municipalities, nonprofit
organizations and others to fire employees, thus exacerbating our
economic woes. But a lot of groups are reluctant to talk about their
money woes—for fear they won’t see a check at all.
The Environmental Protection Fund was created in
1993 as a dedicated trust fund to preserve New York’s natural and
historic heritage. Currently, the Fund is supported by revenue from
the state’s Real Estate Transfer Tax, which has been tested in
previous economic downturns and remains a source of increased
investment in environmental programs and protection.
What happens now? Clearly, these sweeps need to stop. And there’s
another one planned in next year’s budget ($45 million). This week we expect
to have a better idea of how the State Legislature will modify the
Governor’s budget plans. We’ll be the first to let you know where
things shake out.
Click here to read more about the Fund going bankrupt.
And here.
It’s not too late to act.
Click here to tell Governor Paterson and Budget Director Anglin to
protect New York’s environmental trust fund.
BACKROOM DEAL JEOPARDIZES NY ACTION ON CLIMATE
In a move that has environmental and energy groups up in arms, Governor Paterson has made some promises to polluters that we don’t want him to keep—promises to weaken New York’s program related to the nation’s first real plan to cut global warming pollution, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or “RGGI.”
According to the New York Times, the Governor made a deal with the Independent Power Producers of New York to rewrite the rule to meet power producers’ demands. Apparently, these polluters didn’t feel like they had enough opportunities to contribute to the rule-making during the three+ years of public debate and discussion that preceded its adoption.
Click here to keep reading the front-page story that ran in Friday's New York Times. Click here to read the New York Times editorial.
Lots of questions now need to be answered and this deal smells worse than the stuff that comes out of a smokestack. We’re doing everything in our power to keep the RGGI on track and we’ll be in touch soon with an update.
STIMULATING?
Last month, the federal government passed the $787 billion
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, and New York is slated to get
nearly $25 billion in stimulus funds. This means big bucks for clean
power, energy efficiency, public transit and the sorts of
infrastructure projects most of us only notice when they break down,
like sewage and drinking water systems.
Stimulus money is meant to jumpstart New York’s economy, but it will also serve to jumpstart the state’s response to challenges like climate change and our aging infrastructure.
The $25 billion question is if the stimulus will be successful in accomplishing these goals. For more information on New York’s slice of the stimulus pie click here.
President Obama and Congress generally resisted
the urge to pork-up the stimulus package with earmarks. We hope that
New York will follow suit. In meetings with the Governor’s staff,
Environmental Advocates and others have been told that transparency
is important, but that the Governor plans to roll the stimulus money
into ongoing budget negotiations. When that happens, it is going to
be hard to piece together how stimulus funds are allocated.
According to a national poll conducted by
Building America’s
Future—a joint effort by Mayor Bloomberg, Governor
Schwarzenegger and others—accountability is the number one concern
expressed by Americans about how stimulus dollars are spent.
And polls are pretty informative. Governor Paterson is currently enjoying historically low approval ratings according to the New York Daily News. If he allows the stimulus money to get squandered these poll numbers will go down faster than the Dow Jones average.
That’s why Environmental Advocates and a host of other groups are pushing to make transparency and accountability part of New York’s plans. Click here for details.
If you’d like to tell the Governor how you’d like the stimulus spent, send an email to EconomicRecovery@chamber.state.ny.us.
BILLS ON THE MOVE
Every week during the Legislative Session,
Environmental Advocates of New York looks at the measures that will
impact the environment for good or ill. Here are this week's Bills
on the Move.
One Smokestack for Farm Dam Safety Exemption. This bill would
transfer state oversight for dams located on farms from the state’s
Dam Safety Bureau to the Department of Agriculture and Markets. If
enacted, this legislation would exempt such dams from proper
oversight and regulation, thus endangering thousands of New Yorkers.
One Tree for Home Energy Efficiency Tax Credit. This measure would create a tax credit for energy efficient home improvements. The amount of the tax credit would be 25 percent of the total cost of the installations, capped at $2,500, and eligible measures would be defined by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The bill also prohibits such installations from increasing the assessed value of the home for purposes of real property tax calculation.
Two Trees for Ultra-Low Sulfur Oil Requirements. This bill would require that heating oil sold after January 1, 2011, in areas that do not meet minimum air quality standards according to the EPA may not have a sulfur content greater than 15 parts per million. This threshold is consistent with industry and public health standards. This bill would result in dramatic improvements in air quality for millions of New Yorkers.
Two Trees for Nuclear Preparedness. This legislation would require the operators of nuclear facilities to pay fees to cover the total costs of maintaining emergency preparedness in host communities.
Two Trees for Power Procurement. Under
this legislation, utilities would be required to meet customers’
energy needs while taking appropriate measures to minimize
volatility of energy prices, including the consideration of
demand-side measures such as energy efficiency and clean distributed
generation.
One Tree for State Greenhouse Gas Audits. This bill would
require that all New York State agencies conduct an annual audit of
the climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions they emit as a result
of their operations. These annual reports would include a
calculation of the agency’s total greenhouse gas emissions for the
year, steps taken to reduce those emissions, as well as actions that
could be taken to further reduce global warming pollution.
Two Trees for Environmental Justice Advisory Group. This bill would incorporate environmental justice principles into state agencies’ decision-making processes, make permanent the Environmental Justice Advisory Group within the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, and establish an Environmental Justice Interagency Coordinating Council to report on the effectiveness and implementation of New York’s environmental justice policies within state agencies.
Two Trees for Environmental Impact Reports. This measure would require the state to issue biennial reports listing high local environmental impact zones across the state. Such zones can be defined as areas that are adversely affected by existing environmental hazards. The list will serve as an important tool in combating the construction of additional polluting and hazardous facilities in areas that already bear more than their fair share of the burden.
Three Trees for Citizen Suits. This bill would create the Private Environmental Law Enforcement Act, providing New York citizens with the right to bring civil action against individuals who have violated certain provisions of the state’s Environmental Conservation Law.
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